Destroyer

Destroyer's Dan Bejar has long been an indie rocker with poetic/literary scope. Lately, as of last album Kaputt (2011), he has also taken on an odd new aspect: that not of a neo folk-singer of an indie rock bandleader, but of a reclining soft-rocker. The album—easily one of his very best—is full of foamy, spraying synthesizer pads, bright but rounded guitar textures, and, yes, saxophone solos. And although Bejar's lyrics can be self-deprecating and sharp, there's nothing ironic in this pointedly mellowed musical atmosphere—it's all done smartly, without winking, and it works. The cautionary character of the title track—chasing cocaine and girls "through the backrooms of the world all night"—could hardly exist to any other soundtrack. With Nurses. ERIC GRANDY